Charleston Weekend 2018

Luke and I ended the month of February with our first big trip, just us, since either of our girls were born. It was much needed and so, so special. We were grateful for the opportunity to take a trip like this and are hoping to make it an annual tradition. We’re not big gift-givers to each other throughout the year, so this trip was pretty much a culmination of celebrations for us, and, in my opinion, SO much better than getting stuff. I’d rather make a memory any day of the week!

We visited Charleston — a first for Luke and my second trip. We decided to not “plan” too much and to just let our day dictate our plans. It was definitely the best decision for us. We chose THE BEST hotel, Kings Courtyard Inn . It’s located right on King Street and accessible to basically everything downtown. Once we parked the van on Thursday, we didn’t move it until check-out on Sunday, which saved us so much time and hassle. We would not hesitate to stay here again in the future, although we would probably not take our kids there. It was a little too fancy for kiddos, in my opinion.

We started our trip by visiting Middleton Place and loved getting so much leisure time there. Most of the time, we just walked around the grounds, which you can totally get lost on. We also took a house tour, which my history-buff husband really enjoyed! All in all, it was a wonderful way to begin our trip, even if it is a little pricey.

That evening, we had dinner at Poogan’s Porch, a favorite from my last visit. We really enjoyed our dinner and totally splurged! In fact, we had no idea that we were visiting on a special week when the entire menu was 40% off! — so we went overboard in the best way!

The next day we visited the City Market, the Exchange and Provost, the Confederate Museum, and took a carriage ride. This day was pretty packed but so fun!! We ate brunch at Toast and had dinner at Fulton Five. I cannot recommend Fulton Five enough. It was, by far, the most delicious meal we had on our trip. We stumbled across it our first night in town, since it was practically right across the street from our hotel. I called the next day to make a reservation, and they were packed. The only dining times available were either really early or really late. We chose to eat late and were totally blown away. This fourteen-table restaurant was completely packed and for good reason. We didn’t go to Charleston to eat Italian, but this was seriously the most delicious place ever. Best food. Best service. Hands down.

Our brunch from Toast

Since we packed so much into our first two days, we decided to make our last day a bit more leisurely. We did a lot more strolling this day. Lots of coffee shops. Lots of meandering. It was perfect. We did, however, take one house tour. We visited the Edmonton-Alston House, which was right along the Battery. The history of this home is tied with Middleton Place, which we visited the first day, so it was neat to connect all the families.

On our last morning, we headed outside downtown to eat brunch at The Early Bird Diner. It was our best breakfast of the trip. So decadent and a great, low-key way to end the trip!

We’re already planning out our next kiddo-free trip for next year! We missed our girls so, so much and talked about them the whole time we were gone. Truth is, though, we wouldn’t have been able to do half of what we did if they had tagged along. Plus, the sweet time we spent chatting and holding hands and just living slowly was so precious. We are choosing to pour our hearts into our marriage, out of an abundance of love for our girls. We love them so much that we can’t not invest in our marriage. If you hadn’t traveled kid-free with your spouse lately, I can’t recommend it enough!!